The Schenck Family

It's great to be 8!!

2011-10-11T11:31:00.001-07:00

Ridger was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints this last weekend! He was so excited to be baptized and has been looking forward to this day for so long! Trevor baptized and confirmed him a member! It was such a great day! I am so proud of Ridger and the adorable boy he is! The next day in Primary they asked him how he felt after he was baptized. He answered, "WET!" Gotta love that cute kid!! Congrats Ridger on your baptism ! I am so proud to be your mommy!! xoxo

Bitter Sweet!

2011-07-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

I am yet again amazed how quick time goes by. Today was the last time I will see Laura, Reagans birth mom for a long time. She is moving back to Texas to go to school and be with her family! I know she needs to move back and start on her new life, but I am so sad for her, and Reagan and I. I wish she could stay a little longer and watch Reagan grow! We love Laura so much and will eternally be grateful for the self-less, Christ like decision she made! It is my hope that she will quickly get into her new college life and start having tons of fun! She is an amazing young girl and will always be my hero!

Mount Rushmore and MORE!

2011-06-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

We took a quick family vacation to Nebraska and South Dakota. We went with 6 other families and stayed in a huge house in Fort Robinson, Nebraska. The house had 2 sides. Each side had 3 levels, with 6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a kitchen, large dining room and large front room. The house was built in the early 1900s and was red brick with white trim and had a huge wrap around front porch (which Reagan and I spent a lot of time). The house was very old and hadn't been updated very much to keep the early 1900s feel. The fort had horses to ride, a huge indoor swim pool, a rodeo, crafts, tennis and basketball courts and a huge grassy area where the kids played football, baseball and lacrosse.

One day we traveled into South Dakota and went to Mount Rushmore. It was such an amazing day. Mount Rushmore was incredible and we had so much fun hanging out and shopping in the little town of Keystone. The kids had so much fun and the Black Hills area was so beautiful! The kids were all so good and had a blast! It was such a memroable vacation and I'm so grateful to have such great friends to travel with!

1 month!!

2011-05-18T22:13:00.001-07:00

Wow!! Has it really been 1 month? What an amazing month it has been! Reagan Skye came into our lives and has stolen every person in our families heart! Words can't even express the love we have for this beautiful little blessing!

Happy Easter 2011

2011-05-18T22:08:00.001-07:00

Annual Schenck Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza!!!!

2010-10-26T15:48:00.000-07:00

We had our "annual pumpkin carving party" last night with the Schenck side of the family!! The kids had a lot of fun! Rylee carved her pumpkin with the New York Yankees logo! River carved his with a snowboarder on the front! Ryker did a "U" for U of U. Ridger carved a traditional pumpkin face. I made a peace sign, heart and "S"...for PEACE LOVE and SCHENCKS! And Trevor made a WSU pumpkin! We had a great time with the whole family!!

Fire Station Field Trip!

2010-10-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

Ridger's first grade class went on a field trip to the fire station!! It was so cute! They walked across the street to the fire station and went on a tour of the fire station! They learned what to do if there is a fire in your home and not to be afraid of the firemen with all their equipment on. Then each child got to get inside the fire truck. It was so cute! I'm so grateful I was able to go and spend some time with Ridger, his cute class, and cute teacher!

The Happiest Place on Earth!

2010-10-20T20:56:00.001-07:00

For the UEA holiday I took Ridger, Ryker and Rylee on a quick trip to Disneyland! River had some things at home he didn't want to miss, so he opted to stay home with Trevor!! We had such a great time! The boys were able to ride every ride so we didn't have to worry about someone sitting out! We had so much fun! We spent everyday at the Disney Parks with our park hopper passes. We alsFo ate dinner one night at Goofy's Kitchen and had lots of fun dancing with and meeting lots of the characters. Ridger and Ryker both had autograph books and spent a lot of time getting all the characters autographs! We rode everything they wanted to ride...a few times each!! Ridger's favorite rides were Splash Mountain, California Screamin' and Grizzly River Run! Rykers favorite rides were Tower of Tower, Soarin' Over California, Space Mountain and California Screamin'!! I'm so glad I took the opportunity and went and had an AMAZING weekend with them! They are all growing up so fast I can't believe it! I really wish I could just stop time and everything around us just to enjoy them even more! But we had so much fun and made some great memories!!

Here We go AGAIN! Hold on TIGHT!!

2010-08-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

WOW! Has summer really come and gone already?!? Wasn't just yesterday field day?? We did a lot of fun things this summer, but I really can't believe it's already time for school again! Ready or not, lets GO!
Rylee is entering the 11th grade and I can't believe she will only have one more year of "1st day of School!" She is a cheerleader, an FBLA officer and a U-KNIGHT leader at her school! She loves being involved and is so excited for her Junior year! River is entering the 8th grade! He will be the 8th grade President and is super excited about that! He is so social and also loves being involved in everything he can! Ryker is going to be in 3rd grade and has a lot of his friends in his class! He wasn't so sure about going back to school, but had a lot of fun once he got there! Ridger is in the 1st grade, which totally blows my mind, and was the only one of the kids who was actually so excited for school to start back up! He says he loves school!
I can't believe how fast the time is going and know that before long these days will be long gone! I truly hope each one of them has an amazing year!! Love you, RYLEE, RIVER, RYKER, and RIDGER!! May this school year bring each of you awesome things!!

RIDGER'S very first day of SCHOOL!

2009-09-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I helped my youngest child get on the school bus for the very first time. His first...my last!! I really wasn't sure how he would do or if he would even do it. He was so cute and sooo excited, he didn't even act scared at all!! I thought I would be super sad and emotional, but seeing how ready and how excited he was made me feel so happy for him!! He has Mrs. Peters for a teacher, and all of the other kids had her for Kindergarten also, so he thinks that is pretty cool. He also gets to go to the brand new K-2nd school that South Weber just built,(as of last week it wasn't even finished). His classroom is 2 doors down from Rykers class so he gets to see Ryker a lot.
I am so happy he is excited to go to school and likes it so much! He is such a joy to have in our family and keeps us all laughing all of the time! I love you Ridger Thomas!!

Where the Heck is the "STOP" button...

2009-08-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

Wow!! It is officially the first day of school and I honestly can't believe where the summer went!! It feels like it is still the last week of school from last year.

Today is Rylee's official first day of High School, River's first day of Junior High and Ryker started second grade. Ridger's Kindergarten doesn't officially start until next week, which is probably good because he deserves a post of his own on his special big day!!
I thought I was doing pretty good this morning as I was rushing getting everybody off. But as soon as everything slowed down and I got in the shower, it hit me!! My little girl is in High School!!!! It doesn't get much crazier than that!! I am trying so hard to be excited for her and for these fun next few years she has to enjoy and look forward to. But I honestly know that this is the beginning of the end, and from here on out she isn't my little girl anymore and doesn't need me much!(except for my wallet!) I hope and pray that her and River will make wise decisions in the coming years and that I will be able to stay close to both of them.
I am so excited for all three of them and the new school year they have to enjoy!! Now if we can just get back into a regular schedule...adjust to waking up early, going to bed at a decent time and homework every night?!?!?!

It's Great to be Eight!!!

2009-08-22T22:59:00.001-07:00

Today Ryker was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!! He was so excited and looked so cute all dressed in his white jumpsuit that was rolled up three times on the bottom. He wasn't supposed to be baptized until next month, but apparently there were so many candidates from our Stake that they needed to add an additional day. They decided to do it this week so the newly baptized children could attend the Oquer Mountain Temple dedication which is scheduled for tomorrow.

Ryker was baptized and confirmed by Trevor. Rylee was the speaker on Baptism and did such a great job! River gave the closing prayer and the witnesses were my dad and Trevor's dad. It was so last minute with the date change that we didn't have a lot of time to let our families know and so not very many of the extended family could make it so we decided to have a huge baptism dinner/Birthday bash for both him and River on Sunday when more of the family could come. The baptism was great and Ryker was beaming!! The spiritual feeling didn't last long though because his very first football game was immediately following the baptism, and it was intense! Welcome to the world of little league football- which is a whole post on it's own!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations on your baptism Ryker!! I am so proud of you and I know your Father in Heaven is too!! I love you so much and hope that you will always remember your special baptism day! Always do your best to live up to the covenants and promises you made at your baptism and always choose the right!! I love you...

Island Park 2009!

2009-08-08T19:03:00.001-07:00

Another year of the annual Schenck camping trip to Island Park has come and gone! We have went to Island Park camping almost every year since Trevor and I have been married. It is a trip that their whole family looks forward to all year long. As soon as one year has come and gone, everyone starts planning for the next year! Our kids love it! It is such a fun get away and such a great time for the kids to make memories and get to know all their cousins even better. Trevor has 9 siblings and most of them have between 3 and 6 kids, so we have a huge group who goes up with us each year. We stay at the Coffee Pot campground right in Island Park! We float the river(usually multiple times), play water games in the river, go four-wheeling, go boating/ wake boarding, jump off the bridge into the freezing cold water, go in to Yellowstone, go to West Yellowstone and see a play at the Playmill, sight see all of the beautiful sights around Island Park, go hiking,eat and eat some more, have a huge camp fire every night, and have so much fun and make so many memories with the entire family! It is truly the best trip ever!

This year we went up 2 nights early and did some sight seeing through Yellowstone before meeting up with the rest of the family in Island Park for the next week. So we were away for 10 days and it was wonderful! This year it was a little colder than normal, but that didn't stop us at all, we had a wonderful trip!

the kids eating lunch before going home on the last day

one night at the camp fire

Trevor and I love to go on a canoe ride at sunset-beautiful!

Ridger jumping off the bridge, he did it twice-two different days!

Ryker jumping off the bridge- he did it tons of times! I love how he puts his right

arm out when he jumps, he always does that!

Rylee jumping off the bridge- she only did it once! I love how she plugs her nose!

River jumped so many times I kept missing taking his picture because he would go so quick!

Rylee and Ridger in West Yellowstone

one of the many trips down the river

some people don't know how to obey rules!! No, they didn't see this sign because they actually got in the river at a different location and walked up to that spot to sit! They didn't know the sign was there, but Rylee, Kelly and I did and we were trying to tell them, but they couldn't here us!! It was soooooo funny!!!

a better picture of the law breaking Schenck crew!!- still not knowing they were doing anything wrong! hahahaha!!

Mesa Falls- so beautiful!

Ridger was so done looking at the geysers!

swimming in the river in Yellowstone- legally- no signs posted

around here about not swimming!!

we stopped in Lava on the way up and floated down the riverRyker taking a break from floating

Ridger and Trevor all ready to float it again

Ready to have some fun!!!

Lighthouses in the Night...

2009-07-19T21:47:00.001-07:00

Wow!! I can't believe that girls camp has come and gone again. It really feels like we just got home from camp last year. I was called to be Girls Camp director in my ward again this year and had so much fun planning it, and going up and spending time with the great young women of our ward.
The theme for this year was "Lighthouses in the Night!" It was such a fun theme and we did so many great activities. The first day we met at the church and then carpooled up to Beaver Mountain and went horse back riding. It was so beautiful and the girls had so much fun! After horse back riding we went to the Logan Temple for lunch and pictures! It was beautiful! Then we were off to Mantua to set up camp and get settled! We had an awesome week and I felt the girls grew so much spiritually!! One of my favorite things we did was had a "Tree of Light". This was a tree in the middle of our camp that we had decorated with lights. I had a bucket with paper and markers and told the girls to write little notes to each other through out the week.Then we hung each of the little notes on the tree decorated with lights. I wasn't sure how this would go over or if the girls would even do it, but they had so much fun writing kind notes to each other. It was so fun to read all the sweet notes that they wrote to each other and so neat to see how much they enjoyed this!
One other good idea I did kind of last minute was making water bottles for each of the girls. I just bought water bottels from Sams that had the lid that pops up and down. I printed each girls name on a piece of paper and they put their name on their water bottle and then put contact paper over top of it. Then they put a small washer around the top of the water bottle and a tied a ribbon through the washer to make a lanyard. They turned out so cute. It was soooooo hot the week of camp so these were used so much.
I loved going to Girls Camp as a youth and have really enjoyed going as a leader these past few years. Thank you so much for all of the wonderful memories Pioneer Ward Young Women and leaders!!!

Celebrating freedom!

2009-07-07T00:44:00.000-07:00

For the fourth of July this year we went to the Layton parade because Rylee had to be in it! "I'm not sure if I've ever been to the Layton parade, and not really sure if I ever want to go again. It was one of the most boring parades I've ever been to, but the kids enjoyed it and Rylee's cheer team looked great! After the parade we stopped and got some lunch to bring home and eat. We just hung out at home most the afternoon and then we went to our neighbor's house for a barbecue and to do fireworks!! It was so much fun!! Happy 4th of July!!

Celebrating in St. George!!

2009-06-26T21:29:00.001-07:00

For Trevor's birthday and also to get away from all the rain we have been having, we took a quick trip to St. George for the weekend. We had so much fun and it was a well needed rest. We went and saw Annie at the Tuacahn theatre, we ate at the Spaghetti and pizza factory, we hiked in Leeds, we went swimming, Rylee and I shopped while Trevor took the boys to a movie, and we ate at Texas Road House! We had a wonderful time!!! Happy 41st birthday old guy!!!! I love you!!!

A change of colors...

2009-06-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

Rylee has changed her favorite colors, or should I say her most worn colors, from gold and black, to red and silver!! It didn't take long for her to adjust from being an SJH cheerleader, to a Northridge Knights cheerleader!!

Rylee had such a great experience in Junior High being on the cheer team for 2 years. And then in ninth grade she served as captain of her team. She absolutely loved every minute of it, and it became her life. She made so many good friends and memories for those two years. When it was time to decide what she wanted to in High School she wanted to tryout for cheerleader again. I wanted her to tryout for the dance team and tried to persuade her that way. But she loves cheering and decided that was what she wanted to do in High School. So instead of going to all of Sunset Junior High games, we are now Northridge Knight fans!! I am so excited for her and all of the fun, new experiences that she has to look forward to in the next 3 years! Congrats Ry!!

GO KNIGHTS!!!

Don't be sad because it's over... SMILE that it happened!!!

Cheerleaders by chance... Friends by choice!!!

Take me out to the Ballgame...again...and again ... and again!!!

2009-06-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

Wow!!! What an awesome season of baseball we had this year!! Both River and Ryker played this year and had so much fun!! Trevor coached Rykers coach pitch team. They had a lot of the ward and neighbor kids on the team so it was super fun for Ryker. He improved a lot and had so much fun.

River also had a lot of friends on his baseball team this year. They had a great little team this season and went really far in the playoffs. I think they ended up getting 3rd place in their division. River got to pitch almost every game and also played short stop and second base. He had so much fun and also improved so much.

Between the 2 of them they each had at least 2 games each week and 1 or 2 practices, so it felt like all we did all spring and half the summer was run to a baseball game or practice! But it was so much fun, I absolutely love watching them both play baseball!!

Remembering...Memorial Day 2009!

2009-05-25T21:49:00.000-07:00

My Grandpa Darold Adams

Trevor's Grandpa and Grandma Clarke

My Grandpa and Grandma Bambrough

Trevor's Grandpa and Grandma Schenck

Ryker's program and field trip!!!

2009-05-21T22:48:00.001-07:00

Ryker had his end of year program and a class field trip to the Utah house this week!!

His program was so adorable. All of the kids had a lot of special parts and they sang so many cute songs! I could tell they had practiced a lot, they all did so good and Ryker was so proud!

His class field trip was to the Utah house and then they went to the castle park for lunch and to play! I have been on a lot of field trips through out the years, but I had never been to the Utah house. It was so neat! I really enjoyed it and so did Ryker and his class! Lunch at the park was so much fun also. The kids loved palying on the big castle play ground and also running on the trails by the creek at the park! It was all so much fun! I am going to miss Ryker's teacher, Mrs. Toomey so much and so is Ryker. She was a wonderful teacher and worked with Ryker so well! He had a great 1st grade year and had so many cute kids in his class!!

End of an Era!!!!

2009-05-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

Ridger graduating from preschool- May 2009

Ryker graduating from preschool-May 2007

River graduating from preschool-May 2001

Rylee graduating from preschool - May 1999

Today Ridger had his preschool graduation!! All four of the kids attended and graduated from Brenda Milgates preschool program. I honestly can't believe where the time has went!! It seems like just yesterday Rylee was getting ready to go to preschool for the first time! I am usually so excited for the kids to graduate from preschool and move on to Kindergarten. But this year I am so sad. I usually sit through the preschool program excited for the next big step. But during Ridger's program I fought back tears the whole time and was so emotional listening to him sing "Bringing Home a Baby Bumble Bee", "I Can't Spell Hippopotamus", and "The Rainbow Song". All of which all three of the other kids sang at their preschool graduation also. Just knowing I will not experience that ever again was so sad for me. I told Brenda I might go into withdrawal and might start sending her a check every month. Brenda has been such a great teacher for each of our kids and I am so happy she was able to teach each of the them! Everyone around me seems so anxious for school to be out and for the kids to be home for the summer. But I am so sad that this school year is ending and not looking forward to the beginning of the new school year at all. I have loved having Ridger home with me, we have gotten so close this year while the other kids have been at school all day and we have had so much fun.

"Ridger, I love you so much. You are such a joy to have in our family!! I love your adorable shy, but crazy personality. I love your cute animated facial expressions and how you always keep us laughing with your funny personality. You are always so thoughtful and sweet and try to make everyone around you happy. You are always so eager to learn, and it seems to come so easy for you. I know you will go far in this life and will do so well in Kindergarten!! Congratulations Ridger!! Hugs and kisses!!! Your best buddy, AKA-Mommy"

The Ride...

2009-05-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

Trevor, his brothers and brother-in-laws surprised his Dad for his 72nd birthday with a motorcycle tour of Southern Utah. They all either rented, bought, borrowed or stole motorcycles and spent a couple days on a huge ride!

I'm so glad they had fun, but even more glad they made it home safely!!!

The Journey of a Mother

2009-05-08T07:59:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine sent this to me so I decided to share it for this Mother's Day weekend!

The young mother set her foot on the path of life."Is this the long way?" she asked. And the guide said "Yes,And the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end of it.But the end will be better than the beginning."

But the young mother was happy,And she would not believe that anything could be better than these years.So she played with her children, she fed them and bathed them,And taught them how to tie their shoes and ride a bike and reminded them to feed the dog,And do their homework and brush their teeth.The sun shone on them, and the young Mother cried, "Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."

Then the nights came, and the storms, and the path was sometimes dark,And the children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close And covered them with her arms, and the children said,"Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come."

And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary, And the mother was weary. But at all times she said to the children,"A little patience and we are there." So the children climbed, and as they climbed they learned to weather the storms. And with this, she gave them strength to face the world..Year after year, she showed them compassion, understanding, hope, But most of all...unconditional love.

And when they reached the top they said, "Mother, we would not have done it without you."

The days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, And the mother grew old and she became little and bent.But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage. And the Mother, when she lay down at night, looked up at the stars And said, "This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned so much And are now passing these traits on to their children."And when the way became rough for her, they lifted her, And gave her their strength, just as she had given them hers.

One day they came to a hill, and beyond the hill, they could see a shining road And golden gates flung wide. And mother said: "I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk with dignity And pride, with their heads held high, and so can their children after them. And the children said, "You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates."And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her.And they said: "We cannot see her, but she is with us still. A Mother like ours is more than a memory. She is a living presence."

Your Mother is always with you. She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street, she's the smell of certain foods you remember, flowers you pick and perfume that she wore, she's the cool hand on your brow when you're not feeling well, she's your breath in the air on a cold winter's day. She is the sound of the rain that lulls you to sleep, the colors of a rainbow, she is Christmas morning.Your Mother lives inside your laughter. And she's crystallized in every tear drop. A mother shows every emotion happiness, sadness, fear, jealousy, love, hate, anger, helplessness, excitement, joy, sorrow... And all the while, hoping and praying you will only know the good feelings in life. She's the place you came from, your first home, and she's the map you follow with every step you take. She's your first love, your first friend, even your first enemy, but nothing on earth can separate you.Not time, not space...not even death!"The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or touched - they must be felt with the heart." ~Helen Keller~

Happy Mothers Day to all the wonderful mothers out there!!!

Soakin' up the fun...Spring Break '09

2009-05-07T13:40:00.000-07:00

Spring Break '09 highlights...

hiking in Leeds-watching Trevor and Jon jumping in the freezing cold water

late night swimming and hot tubbing

huge sleepover at Trevor's little sisters house in St. George

sightseeing in Hollywood with Rylee, River, Ryker, Jon, Colton and Jayden

riding the "BIG" rides at Knotts Berry Farm with Ryker

riding the log flume with Ridger

losing a bet with Jon because Trevor couldn't resist disobeying the rules on the log flume by getting me wet

the first night at the beach house and watching the sunset and the kids play in the waves all night

Ridger and Peyton pulling each other on the boogie board

Ryker riding the waves on the boogie board

River surfing even though he was really sick

Rylee tumbling on the beach

watching dolphins from the deck each morning

taking Taylor (Trevor's little brother who is serving a mission in So. Cali) to breakfast and visiting with him and his companion

sleeping with the windows open and listening to the waves all night

dinner on the pier

Trevor and John (oh and the kids) building the worlds largest sand castle-every day

morning walk down the beach and pier with Trevor

sailing in the BEAUTIFUL San Diego Bay

the candy store and quaint shops at Sea Port Village

dinner at the Chart House

Easter egg hunt at the Bambrough Easter party

coloring Easter eggs as a family

spending 10 days together as a family!!!

Reading Profanity...

2009-05-07T13:38:00.001-07:00

This incident happened last fall and I debated about blogging about it, but have decided to share it...

One day I was reading a book with Ryker that his teacher had sent home.
The book was titled "Fred Fixes It"! The very first page had a picture of Fred under a faucet with tools, trying to fix the faucet.
The words read, "Drip, drop, drip, drop".

Ryker, without pausing at all, read it........"Damn-it, damn-it, damn-it, damn-it!"
My mouth dropped open and I wasn't sure if I should laugh, cry or get mad.
I said "WHAT?, where did you get that and why do you think this says that?"
He replied very matter-of-factly, "Because he looks so mad!"

Reading is definitely not Ryker strongest academic area!! We have since been working so hard and he has improved so much. "I am so proud of you and how hard and diligent you work at everything you do Ryker!! You never give up and always give everything your very best effort!! I love you so much and am so proud of the adorable boy you are becoming!!"

Mile-High Fun!!!

2009-04-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

Last month I went to Denver with Rylee, my sister, Trevor's little sister and two of my nieces! My two nieces had a scholarship to a great dance convention, so we all decided to drive to Denver and spend the weekend. (Yes, I said drive- all in one car!!) It was so much fun! Some of the fun things we did were: shopped, ate at Hard Rock Cafe, ate at Bubba Gumps, shopped, sat in the hot tub , went swimming, more shopping, and laughed & laughed!! Rylee won a scholarship to go to the dance convention's nationals in Anaheim in July! What an amazing weekend and great memories!! Thanks for the fun Rylee, Heather, Navy, Cindy and Journey!!

Basketball Bliss!!!

2009-04-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

WOW!!!!!!!! I honestly can't believe it is April 21!!!!!!! This month has been a whirl wind!! I have sooooo much I want to blog about but it has been so busy lately!! So I really have a lot of catching up to do!! The first thing I've been meaning to blog about is River's cute basketball team!
River signed up for another year of Jr. Jazz way back in December. Last year River had such a disappointing year because he only played one game before he broke his leg and was out for 3 months. He was so excited to play this year because our awesome neighbor was going to coach and we had asked for River to be on his team. The problem was that no one else signed up to be a coach and their were a lot of boys who wanted to play. Trevor has coached a lot of River's sports teams in the past, but really didn't want to coach this year. Mostly because the boys are getting older and it is a lot different level than when they were little and also because we really wanted River to be on our neighbors team. But not one other parent was able to coach(mostly due to work and other schedule conflicts) and Trevor had a lot of time because he has been so slow at work. So a little reluctantly Trevor decided to coach River's team. Trevor's team ended up having such a great year and won the Championship!! They were such an awesome team and worked so well together!! Trevor really enjoyed coaching and River improved so much and had so much fun playing this year. Congratulations Trevor, River, Dave, Braxton, Conner, Tyler, Zach, Bronson, and Braden!! I am so proud of all of you!!

"Blogging it forward!!!!"

2009-03-31T14:34:00.000-07:00

I visited one of my friends blogs a few weeks ago and she was "blogging it forward"!! The first 3 people to comment on that post get a treat from her!! I was number 2!!! Woo Hoo!! Part of the deal though, is that in order to get the treat, I must also blog it forward on my blog!! So I am, but I am also changing it up a bit!!

So here is the deal!! The first 3 people to comment on this post get a treat from me!! But you must also do the same on your blog and post a "blog it forward" on your blog!! But also you must take a treat to 3 random people(not in the blogging world), just to brighten there day!! Obviously I won't know if you do this, but hopefully you will just to spread joy and happiness to others!! Happy blogging!! (:

Tagged with 3's!!!!

2009-03-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

3 THINGS ABOUT ME.....

Three jobs I have had:
1- Nordstrom
2- dance teacher
3- receptionist for Lawyer

Three places I have lived:
1- South Weber
2- South Ogden
3- Logan

Three shows that I watch:
1- LOST
2- So You Think You Can Dance
3- Extreme Home Makeover

Three places I have been:
1- Puerto Rico
2- Mazatlan
3- New Orleans

Three places I have been this week:
1- Denver
2- Olive Garden
3- Gap

Three places I'd rather be right now:
1- getting a tan on a tropical beach
2- shopping
3- skiing with my family

Three people I'm tagging:
1- Becky A.
2- Ginger G.
3- Stacy B.

Feelin' L U C K Y ! ! !

2009-03-17T09:40:00.001-07:00

On January 15, 2009 a US Airways jet landed in the Hudson River in New York after colliding with a flock of birds. Every single person on the plane survived the crash. It was truly amazing and miraculous. Some time after the crash I watched a documentary on the ordeal. They had the entire crew that was on the plane that day on the show and were interviewing them. As I listened to each person explain the ordeal, every member of the crew said how grateful they were to be alive and how lucky they were... except for one. As they interviewed one particular flight attendant all she could do is say how horrible the whole experience was. Not once did she say how lucky she was to be alive. I'm sure it must have been absolutely horrifying to be on that plane, and this particular flight attendant was in the back of the plane which took the most brunt during the crash. Also the back part of the plane was emerged in the water the most and also the people in the back were the very last ones off the plane, so I'm sure it was even more traumatic for the ones in the back. But, still not once did this flight attendant recognize how really, really lucky they all were to get off that plane alive. I was amazed at how truly negative she was, again it is hard for me to sit and say this not truly knowing how horrible it must have been to be aboard this flight. But still I could not believe that not once did she say she was grateful or lucky to be alive. It honestly surprised me, that after all she had been through that she wasn't a little more grateful. After everything they had been through, I felt that this should have been all the more reason to appreciate life, and how fragile it really is and just how truly lucky she was to be alive.

Bad things happen a lot, but it is really our outlook and our reaction to those bad things that matters most. On the most part, most of the people I know are really lucky and have so much to be grateful for! So on this Irish holiday I feel I am so LUCKY!! No, my life isn't perfect. I could make a huge list of the unlucky things that have happened to me lately, but I choose to look at the lucky side of these bad things. They have made me a better, stronger person and appreciate the lucky in life! Happy St. Patricks Day blogging world!! I am so lucky to have such great blogging buddies!! May the LUCK of the Irish be with you today and always!! (:

Perspective of a 5 year old!!

2009-03-05T13:25:00.000-08:00

The other night as I was getting Ridger ready for bed we were talking and he asked me if we could get a baby sister. (I think he wants a little sister as much or more than Rylee does!) I tried to explain to him that we wouldn't be able to have any more kids in our family.
And he replied with a big confident smile, "It's really easy, Mom. All you have to do is stop exercising, get really fat, and then go to the doctor!" Repeating "just stop exercising MOM"!!! So... I'm thinking I will try it!! (I love you so much Ridger!!)

March 2, 90...

2009-03-02T17:19:00.000-08:00

This morning as I was rushing getting the kids out the door to the bus, River pulled out a form for a field trip that he needed me to sign. As I signed the form and went to write the date, I drew a blank and just sat and stared at the form for a second. A little impatient River said, "it's March 2nd mom". As I went to write the year my mind wanted to write 90, not 09. River still a little impatient, just wanting to get out to the bus stop, had to remind me of the year. After I signed the paper and he was off I remembered why my mind wanted to remember March 2, 1990. That was one of the best days of my life...

19 years ago today was the day I met the love of my life. Trevor and I were set up on a blind date. He had actually gotten my phone number from a friend of mine a few weeks earlier and called me to go out a couple times before, but I could not go either time. When he called me the third time I actually had to work late that night, but knew that he might never call me again if I didn't go with him. So we decided to go out after I got off work that night. He picked me up and we met some of his friends up sledding at Nordic Valley, then we went to one of his friends houses and played some games(Foosball-which I must add that him and I beat everyone we played that night!). After playing games we ate pizza and then went to the Hilton and went swimming and hot tubing. It was a great time!! I'm so grateful Trevor was persistent and kept calling me!! Here's to 19 years Trev!!!! I love you!!

Sometimes you just need to laugh...

2009-03-02T12:59:00.000-08:00

I received this as an email today and it reminded me a little of how I've been feeling lately and decided to post it!!

If life were easy...it wouldn't be hard!

2009-02-28T11:43:00.001-08:00

When I decided to start blogging, I wanted to be able to have a place to journal all the cute-fun things that our family is doing. I wanted to be able to write my feelings down and be able to remember all the things that I am blessed with and have to be thankful for. But this past month I have honestly had such a hard time feeling very blessed or even being very thankful for much. As long as I can remember February has been my very least favorite month of the year. February seems to me to be the longest month out of the year-not the shortest!!

I remember the first day of February this year, so well. I woke up that morning and felt like I had been ran over by a train. Every inch of my body ached, my head was pounding and my throat felt like I had swallowed a porcupine!! I wish today I would have listened to my body trying to tell me to stay in bed, and just slept the entire month of February 2009 off! I remember looking at the calendar later that day, and staring at the LONG 28 days ahead in the longest month of the year! I told myself that I could do it, that I would have a great February and not get depressed this year. Oh WOW!! I often wonder if the things that get me so down in February would get me as depressed in any other month. No, no one has passed away that I love, and the things that have gotten me down are mostly material things. But none the less hard to try and figure out when you try so hard, why so many bad things still have to happen. As I have tried these past few weeks to stay upbeat and not lose it, I have honestly prayed for an end to the misery, for some good news and happy times. Then I remembered that in order for me to really know happiness and appreciate my blessings, I must also know pain and suffering. If life gave us everything we asked for and we never had to suffer, we would never grow and never truly be happy. No, this doesn't make the hardships any easier to endure, but it helps us be grateful for the good times once the hardships have passed.

So as the longest-shortest month of the year comes to an end, I know that someday I will look back on February 2009 and appreciate it for what it gave me. It has helped me remember that the most important things in life are being with the people I love-nothing else really matters. And that as unpredictable as I know life is, things can always get worse, but they can also always get better!!

Side note to self: Run away to Mexico, Hawaii or the Caribbean next February!!

Top ten in the nation ...

2009-02-23T13:20:00.000-08:00

Business Week Magazine conducted a study and found the top ten most affordable suburbs in the nation where residents can find the best quality of life for the money!! Business Week based its rankings by looking at schools, crime, reasonable commutes, strong economics and a good quality of life. The top 10 suburbs were:

#1 Pewaukee, Wis.

#2 Mill Creek, Wash.

#3 Brandon, S.D.

#4 Munford, Tenn.

#5 East Norriton, Pa.

#6 South Weber, UT.

#7 Cornelius, N.C.

#8 West Des Moines, Iowa

#9 Pataskala, Ohio

#10 Fort Mill, S.C.

Gotta love it!!

BOYS WILL BE BOYS!!!...AGAIN!!!

2009-02-16T09:10:00.000-08:00

Last fall I posted a cute story about Ridger (November 2008) and how he caught and housed a tiny "dead" mouse in one of my decorative lanterns that adorn my patio table. He had put some leaves in the lantern for the mouse to sleep on and some tiny berries for it to eat. He was so proud of his new sleeping pet that he took it around the neighborhood to show it off. Well...

Last week Ridger had been over at the neighbors house playing when he saw a dead mouse in their yard. The neighbors had seen some mice in their garage, so they put out some deacon to kill them. When they saw the dead mouse they told Ridger that we needed to make sure the dogs didn't get it. They were worried that the deacon in the mouse might hurt the dogs if they ate the mouse. Well, apparently Ridger thought that they meant that they didn't want the dogs to get the poor little helpless mouse. So Ridger took things into his own hands. Literally!! Later that day him and the neighbor girl came inside the house and informed me that they had put the mouse someplace safe, so the dog wouldn't get it. First I made him change his clothes and scrub his hands. Then I asked him where he put the mouse, he said "behind a bush"!!! He would talk about the mouse often, every time telling me that our dog would never get the mouse. A few days had past when I was out on the patio. When I was walking in the door I looked in the corner of my steps, and there behind one of my planter boxes was one of my lanterns. Hmmmmm?? As I proceeded to reach over and grab the third lantern and return it to its usual place on the patio table. I noticed something inside the lantern!!! Oh my goodness!!! Ridger had put the sweet little mouse inside the lantern to protect it from the dog, and then hid the lantern behind the bush(the planter box).

So, I must add one more reason to why my beautiful rod iron lanterns make the best home for sleeping rodents-it provides a safe place for them to reside, and keep them protected from dogs or any other creature who might try and eat them!!! (I do believe we might be getting Ridger a hamster for his next birthday!!!!!)

2009-02-14T08:55:00.001-08:00

Valentine's" Day Graphics

Happy 1/2 Birthday!!!

2009-02-12T11:39:00.000-08:00

River and Ryker were both born on August 12!! Five years apart! When I was younger I always felt so sorry for the kids who had their birthdays in the summer and had to make up a day during the school year to celebrate their birthday! Well, now two of my kids have to do this!! So the day we usually celebrate their "un-Birthday" is February 12, six months exactly from their real birthday! So today we are celebrating both their 1/2 birthday!!! River is taking a treat to his class, and I made a 1/2 birthday cake for each one of them!! (1 cake they get to share!!(: ) I guess it's fun to have a reason to celebrate your birthday twice during a year!!! I'm sure this will be the last time River will get to do this because next year he is Junior High. So HAPPY 1/2 BIRTHDAY River and Ryker!! I love you both soooooooo much!!

Snowmobiling!!

2009-02-01T08:08:00.000-08:00

Last week Trevor took me and some of our friends up snowmobiling. The snow was a little icy and crunchy at first, but as soon as we got to the top of the mountain it was great. The view from the top of the mountain was amazing!! Snowmobiling isn't usually my favorite activity, but the three of us made Trevor go see 3 Broadway musicals in New York, so it was his turn to choose the activity! We had a great time and it was a well needed break from reality!! Thanks Trevor and Augers for a great time!!

Happy Birthday Rylee!!

2009-01-20T00:26:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Comments

15 years ago today I became a mom for the very first time!!! Rylee was born on January 20, 1994. I honestly can't believe it's been 15 years!!!

15 interesting/fun facts about Rylee:

1- Her favorite color is turquoise; her room, ipod and phone are all turquoise!!
2- Rylee loooooves ice cream!!!
3- Rylee would give anything for a little sister!!
4- Rylee is a snuggler when she sleeps!! It doesn't matter how big of bed she sleeps in, she'll snuggle right up to you!!
5- Rylee's favorite subject is MATH!! Really!
6- Rylee has an abnormal heart beat!! Her heart literally stops beating for a few seconds! This causes her to faint and get light headed really easy!
7- Rylee is an amazing dancer!
8- Rylee is very genuine!!
9- When Rylee was born we had to do a rush cesarean. She wasn't breathing and had to be rushed to ICU!
10- Rylee is extremely organized!!
11- Rylee is a great basketball player!! We tease her all the time that she should trade in her pom poms for basketball shoes!
12- Rylee is a germ freak!! Don't even think about drinking out of her drink, using her lip gloss or even breathing on her food!!
13- Rylee is an awesome writer!! She enjoys writing poems and stories!!
14- Rylee sleeps with the quilt her Grandma gave her when she was born-every night!! It is so old and ragged, but she won't get rid of it or even let me try and fix it!!
15- Rylee is the best friend I've ever had!!!

Best wishes for the best birthday ever Rylee!! I love you!!

D.A.R.E.

2009-01-15T22:31:00.001-08:00

Today River had his DARE graduation program! Our school district does a half year program for all sixth graders in the school district. The purpose of the program is to educate the children about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. The program deals with short term dangers and the long term dangers of using drugs. It also teaches the children to say no to drugs and alcohol and stand up to peer pressure and seek good friends. I really feel that this program is such a great program for the school district to continue doing. I'm sure it costs the district a lot of extra time and money, but is so worth it.

For the program today, the mayor spoke, the DARE officer, the sheriff and also Miss Utah 2007. Each of them had a great message to share. I was really impressed with Miss Utah. She had the best message and I really felt she connected with the kids and was so inspirational!! She spoke about her younger brother and how he overdosed on drugs, the first time on Christmas one year. And the second time he died from the over-dose. She was so good!!

I really hope that River remembers everything he learned from this program and never does any kind of drugs. I think one of my worst fears is that one of my boys will get mixed up in drugs of some kind. I honestly feel that people who get mixed up in drugs have the hardest time keeping off them and truly can't live a normal-responsible life. I am so grateful the school and the district feel that this is such an important program to continue!! Congrats River and all you DARE graduates!! Always remember what you learned and never give in to peer pressure!!!!

KINDNESS!!

2009-01-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been almost two weeks since I posted something on my blog!!! This will actually be the first post for 2009!! That either means reality has really set in and I don't have nearly as much time as I wish. Or, that means that there hasn't been anything very exciting to "blog" about!! Maybe a little of both!!!!

Well, today Trevor and I had to speak in our ward sacrament meeting for our church on the subject of being kind. I decided to post some of my thoughts on this subject since it consumed me for so long, and it was all I thought about for so long!!

Kindness is how a Christlike person treats others. Kindness should encircle all of our words and action's at work, at school, at church, in our community and especially in our homes. We often times get so caught up in getting everything done that needs to be done that its so easy to get stressed and take it out on our family members. The things we say, the tone of our voice, the anger or calm of our words-these things are noticed by our children. They see and learn both the kind and the unkind things we say and do. We need to be an example of kindness, gentleness and compassion for our children. They will emulate us, both to each other and to their peers. Nothing exposes our true selves more than how we treat one another in the home.

There are so many things in this world that are out of our control, sickness, death, financial hardships, the list goes on and on, but kindness is one of the few things we can control. It is an attitude that comes from within us. At any given time, we may lose our strength, our health, our money, and every single possession, but we will never lose the happiness in our lives if we are kind and unselfish.

President Gordon B. Hinckley said, "Why do any of us have to be so mean and unkind to others? Why can't all of us reach out in friendship to everyone about us? There is so much jealousy, pride, arrogance, gossiping, criticism, and people who rise in anger over small unimportant things."

The Savior was the epitome of kindness and compassion. Kindness is one of the most Christlike attributes we can develop. In striving to perfect ourselves, we will find that we need to learn to love as the Savior loves.
On the very night that Jesus was to be delivered up to cruel men, to be spit upon, beaten, whipped, tortured and finally killed, the Savior made this crowning pronouncement to his disciples. Knowing full-well his fate, he said, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." The love that the savior intended was to be much more than something we said, much more than an affectionate feeling, it was to be the kind of love that has an unimaginable far reaching impact.

Last week we had a very big snow storm. Our kids love being outside and especially playing in the snow. One of their favorite things to do is go sledding behind the four-wheeler. Trevor drives and hooks the sleds up to the four-wheeler and takes them for a ride. We have a fairly big yard that we use, but Trevor also enjoys pulling them through the road. We are full aware that this is probably not legal, but since we live on a dead end street without very much through traffic we feel it is still safe. Apparently one of our neighbors doesn't feel the same way! Someone called the Sheriffs department last week and make a complaint about us doing this. Three out of four of my children also had other "incidents" last week where they felt they had been treated very unkind. I don't know if the people who I felt were being unkind to us, were really intentionally trying to hurt us, but it was very discouraging. All of these incidents were the week I was supposed to stand and speak on Kindness. What a difficult week it has been to let these, maybe small, but still upsetting incidences go. I honestly feel that Satan was testing me, and it was a tough test!! When someone hurts us our first reaction is to lash back and hurt them in return. But one thing I have learned in my life, and especially this week is that "returning meanness to meanness, only brings more meanness!!"

I hope that I can be more kind and Christlike in all that I do! I also hope that I never have to speak in church again!! (OK, at least for a very very long time!!!)(LOL!!)

Looking Back...2008

2008-12-31T19:45:00.000-08:00

What a year it has been!! This year has been so great and has gone soooo fast!! It was a year ago exactly that we were finishing our new house and trying to move in "slowly" during the holidays!! The kids and I slept at the new house for the first time on Christmas night. We slept at the old house for Christmas Eve and Santa brought our gifts to the new house. We had one tiny Christmas tree at the new house and one couch/large sectional that pulled out into a bed. When we woke up at the old house Christmas morning, we all walked over to the new house. It was so much fun!! It had snowed all night so there was tons of new snow. We walked in the house and the kids went to the stairs to wait for Trevor to do his usual check and see if Santa had came. Then the kids were off to see their gifts. It was sooo fun because there was nothing but the one tiny tree and the kids gifts!! That night the kids and I slept on the one couch up in the theatre room and pretty much "camped" out there during the holidays! That was one of my favorite Christmas' ever!! We slowly moved in all during the holidays when we had a chance. And we were officially moved in the first weekend in January!!

One week later, January 10th 2008, Trevor had his knee surgery. He had torn his ACL and meniscus playing indoor soccer the summer previous, but was so busy at work and in the middle of building the house, that he decided to wait until winter to have his surgery. Well, one week later, on January 19, (the day before Rylee's birthday), River went skiing with two friends at Snowbasin and broke his leg. It was about 2:00pm when I received a phone call from Ski Patrol at Snowbasin. I knew before I answered it what they were going to say. Trevor, still on crutches, and I jumped in the car and headed up to Snowbasin. I knew immediately when I saw River that he had broken it badly. He wasn't crying or even looked in pain, but he was white as white and looked like he was in shock. Trevor kept telling River it wasn't broke and wanted to just take him home, but I insisted that we go to after hours. We got in the Doctors office with the nurses and proceeded to get Rivers many layers of snow pants cut off. This was the one and only time of the whole day River shed a tear. He was obviously in excruciating pain. When we finally got down to his leg, it was very obvious that it was badly broke and that we would need to go to the emergency room and see a specialist. So River had to get back in the car and go to the emergency room. All the while Trevor couldn't help me get him in and out of the car because he was still on crutches and could hardly get around himself!! After what seemed like the longest day of my life, many xrays, setting the bone not once-but twice (the worst part for me), a cast up to the top of his leg, and River being the toughest kid I've ever seen, we were off with two members of our family now on crutches. The next couple months I honestly think I earned my CNA degree! (LOL!!)

Winter didn't have mercy on me, because it didn't stop snowing for months, and with the two oldest males in our family both on crutches, guess who was left shoveling off a very long driveway. I remember thinking that Spring would never, ever come. But, somehow the snow stopped and spring came.

On April 7, 2008, River got a walking boot on and could get rid of the crutches. And on April 9, 2008 we went on a very needed family vacation to Orlando, Florida. We met our friends from Georgia, who drove down, and stayed with them at some condos in Orlando. Our friends kids couldn't miss much school so they couldn't stay as long as we did, so the second half of our vacation we stayed at the Nickelodeon Hotel and had so much fun. I'll never forget the last night we were there and we were walking out of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventures, when Ryker turned to me and said, "Mom, I wish I was a scientist!", not knowing what in the world he was talking about I asked him why, and he said "So I could invent a time machine and go back in time so I could do this fun day all over again!!" Great memories!!!

In May, one week after River was totally free from casts and crutches, he was playing with Ryker when he tripped on a chair and fell. He cut his knee open right on the top of his knee. 9 stiches later, he was back to not being able to get around very well or doing much!! It was so disappointing to see him down again after so many months of being down.
The first part of June we celebrated Trevor's 40th birthday. We had a huge barbecue at our house and invited all of our friends and family. We had a great time. The bulk of June was consumed with girls camp. The camp director from our ward had just moved, so I was put into the position in May. It was so hard, but so much fun, and definitely a huge learning experience for me. The last week of June we went to Lake Powell with our wonderful neighbors. They had asked us to go with them many times, but we could never fit it in. WOW!! We had so much fun. Their houseboat was incredible, and they had every water toy made. We went boating, sea-dooing,swimming, hiking, saved a Golden Eagle, and just had fun jumping and sliding off the houseboat. Our kids talk about this vacation all of the time. It was one of the best vacations we've taken as a family.

July we went with the Schencks on the annual camping trip to Island Park. It was so much fun as usual, but a little sad because Rylee missed most of it because she had Cheer camp during the week. Rylee had a great experience at her cheer camp this year though, because she received the over-all top All-American award from the entire camp. This was with high schools and junior high schools, so it was a huge honor for her!!

August we celebrated both Ryker and River's birthdays!! River turned twelve and received the priesthood, he was so excited and so nervous all in one. He absolutely loves passing the sacrament, and even wants to pass it when we are at a ward on vacation! I can't believe how old he is getting!

September meant school was back in session, Ridger and I celebrated our birthday's, Rylee sprained her foot tumbling, I started blogging, and Trevor's little brother left on his mission.

October was beautiful. We had a very warm Halloween, one of the warmest I remember in a long time. We spent most of the month driving Rylee to Utah Valley for Thriller practices and taking River and Ryker to flag football games and practices.
November was memorable because of the Presidential elections and the historic event that it was.

December came and went so quick I can't even believe it. Trevor and I went to New York and had such a wonderful time. This Christmas I tried so hard to simplify and just enjoy Christmas for what it is, the birth of our Savior. We did a lot of fun and memorable things as a family and really enjoyed the holiday.

It's amazing to think that it has been a year already since we moved!! I'm so grateful for all the trials and the wonderful things that made 2008 what it was. In some ways I really want time to slow down or just stop for a while so my kids don't get any older!! The time goes by faster and faster with each new year!! I have so much to be thankful for and I am excited for the new year to come!!! Bring on 2009!! Happy New Year!

Dancing with the Stars!!!

2008-12-31T12:46:00.000-08:00

Last night some of my BFF's from high school and I had a holiday girls night out!! First we met at Ruby Tuesday's in West Valley and had dinner. After dinner we went to see Dancing with the Stars on tour at the e-center!! It was so much fun!! I have to admit I'm a lot bigger fan of So you think you can Dance, but all in all it was wonderful!! I sat next to my one friend who is a big Dancing with the Stars fan, so the few people I didn't know, she knew who they were!! Some of my highlights of the night were Toni Braxton, she sang a few songs and that was way neat. Lacey and Lance Bass were good, and so funny!! Also Lacey and Derek(I think Derek) did a hip hop duo that was way fun after seeing so much ballroom dancing all night!! What a great night with great friends!! (We might leave the couple older fudy's, who kept looking at their watches the entire last hour, home next year!! LOL!! JK!!) Thanks for a great evening, love you guys!!

Christmas Joy!!

2008-12-30T23:20:00.000-08:00

We had such a great Christmas, but I can't believe how quick it came and went!! After the annual Schenck Christmas Eve party we came home and read the Christmas story out of the scriptures, had family prayer and off to bed they all went. No one woke up until about 8:00am. I heard Ridger and Ryker walking around upstairs, so then they woke Rylee and River up and they all waited on the stairs for Trevor to wake up. After opening all the presents and trying out everything, we went to see my Grandma at her assisted living home. We visited with my family and ate dinner and then back home.

Ridger felt Santa didn't give him exactly what he asked for, which is so funny because the child asked for everything(not sure where Santa went wrong). He is also already working on his list for next year, which is also funny because Santa isn't coming to our house next year!(LOL) But some of his favorite gifts were his remote control helicopter, his Leapster 2, and his Imaginext bat cave. Ridger was so cute this Christmas and loved wrapping and giving gifts to everyone in our family. He spent so much time wrapping up something that already belonged to us, or something of his that he no longer wanted!! It meant so much to him, and was soooo cute!!

Ryker really scored with Santa this year. He loved everything he got!! Some of his most favorite gifts were his Star Wars vehicle which came with lots of characters and he also got a cool nerf gun that him and River have been shooting little orange sponge bullets all over the house. He also loved the Wii fit game, which was actually Rylees gift and also his DS games and the family ping pong table.

River loved the family Guitar Hero on World Tour, his 007 game for Wii and his remote control car that climbs walls.

Rylee really enjoyed her Dance Dance Revolution game for Wii and her I-tunes gift card and new Cd's for her I-pod!!

Well another year has come and gone (even though my house still looks like it's Christmas morning) and I'm not sure if I'm happy it all went by so fast or not! Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Cookies for Santa!

2008-12-29T19:34:00.000-08:00

Our last activity to do as a family for our "counting down" bags this year was to make cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. So before we went to the Schenck Christmas party, we all made and decorated cookies for Santa! They turned out so cute, I'm sure Santa really appreciated them!! The kids put three on a plate for him, but one accidentally fell on the ground. Ryker picked it up and wiped it off and put it back on the plate with the others for Santa to enjoy during his late night visit. When we woke up Santa had eaten two, but the one that fell on the floor Santa happened to leave behind!! Ryker was so impressed that somehow Santa must have known not to eat the one that fell on the ground!! Santa knows everything!!

GOT SNOW?!?!

2008-12-23T17:57:00.000-08:00

I can honestly say that about two weeks ago I thought there was know way in heck we were going to have a white Christmas! I am so happy to say that I was wrong!! The snow started about a week ago and has been accumulating each day.
Our family was going to go skiing on Saturday, but when we woke up that day it was snowing, so we decided to go on Monday. But when we woke up on Monday it was snowing again, so we decided to go Tuesday, well guess what? When we woke up it was snowing again!!!! Well, we decided to go anyway!!! We had the best time and I'm so glad we waited because the powder was amazing!! It was very cold, especially riding the lift up the hill. The snow was blowing the opposite direction and was freezing!! But luckily that meant going down the hill the wind was going the same direction and so it wasn't nearly as cold!! Rylee and Ridger were the first to get cold and "be done". Ryker is quite the little skier and kept up with Trevor and River, something I even gave up on!! Trevor and Ryker could have kept going all night!! What a great time we had skiing and hopefully the snow will keep coming so we can continue going all winter!!

NEW YORK, NEW YORK!!!

2008-12-16T18:58:00.000-08:00

Last week Trevor and I went to New York with our friends, John and Debbie. We had the best time ever!! I absolutely loved New York!! Neither Trevor or I had ever been before, both John and Debbie had been there already. We stayed right in Manhatten, a couple blocks from Rockefellar Center.

The first day we got there we walked to Rockefellar Center and then to Times Square. In Times Square we did some shopping and just walked around and took it all in. Then we ate dinner at Bubba Gumps, and it was so delicious!!! After dinner we saw the broadway musical Young Frankenstein, it was soooo funny! After the show we went back to Bubba Gumps for desert which was just as delicious as the dinner!!

The next day we woke up and went to the Today show!! We saw Al Roker doing the weather!! Later that day we rode the subway to Battery Park where we got on a ferry to Liberty Island and saw the Statue of Liberty. This was one of my very favorite things we did!! The island was so beautiful with a great veiw of New Jersey and the Manhatten skyline, and the Statue of Liberty was so cool!! After Liberty Island we took the ferry to Ellis Island and toured it and watched a movie about all the immigrants that came through that island! It was sooo interesting!! After the ferry dropped us back off at Battery Park, we walked up to the site where the Twin Towers used to be. It is under construction right now so there wasn't much to see other than a construction site, but it was still very cool. From there we walked through the financial district, which I really really liked, and into China Town. In China Town we did some bargaining for things and had the best time. After our very hilariously scary experience in China Town we rode the subway back to our hotel. That night we saw the broadway musical "WICKED"!! And it was sooooooo amazing! I absolutely loved it!! After the show we ate dinner at a barbecue restaurant, and it was soo good!

Saturday morning Trevor and John woke up early and took a run through Central Park while Debbie and I slept in and got cleaned up. We walked down 5th avenue and shopped (more like window shopped) at all the neat stores!! We also went through the St. Patricks Cathedral which was so beautiful. After shopping we took a carriage ride through Central Park and then walked through Central Park. We were hoping to go ice skating, but it was to packed and the line was sooo long. After Central Park we walked to Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. That night we went and saw The Lion King musical. It was great. Then we got some dinner at a little delicatesan.

Our last day we split up for a few hours. John and Debbie really wanted to go to a museum and Trevor and I wanted to do some more bargain shopping. So Trevor and I took the subway back down to China Town and shopped. Then we all met up at Central Park and walked to the LDS Temple. It was so cool to see the temple just right in the heart of Manhatten!! We also walked by the Lincoln Center and Juliard. They were all so neat to see. Then we got some lunch and went back to our hotel to head out to the airport!

What a great weekend we had and we saw and did way more than I had ever expected!! My favorite things were definetly Wicked, the Statue of Liberty and just walking around watching all the people!! I loved all of it!! Trevors favorite parts were Ellis Island, walking around and seeing NYC in the rain(the first night we were there it rained really hard), and watching Debbie and me be deviant in China Town!! GREAT TIMES!!!! (: (: (:

Weekend full of Thanks!!!

2008-12-03T07:49:00.000-08:00

We had such a great Thanksgiving weekend!! I can't believe it went soooo fast though. Wednesday was spent decorating the Christmas tree and putting up our Christmas decorations. Thursday we spent at Trevors parents house and the kids all ended up sleeping over with all of the cousins, they had a great time! Friday we went to Wolf Mountain as a family and got our pictures taken for our ski passes. (Only a little bit of snow on those hills though, hopefully we'll get some soon so we can start skiing, the kids are so excited.) Friday night I went and saw Twilight for the first time, and must add how much I loved Edward!! It took me almost half way through the movie to get used to him though.
Saturday was our annual Gingerbread house making day at the Schencks! It was so much fun, and crazy-crazy as usual. That night Rylee and I went to the Nutcracker ballet and watched my niece,Journey, who was in it. It was so much fun sitting with Rylee instead of watching Rylee. This is the first year in several years that she didn't try out for a part. While the girls attended the ballet, Trevor took the boys to the Christmas parade in Ogden and to watch the fireworks and the Christmas village lights turn on! They had a great time also!!
Sunday was the usual church and then we had a Thanksgiving dinner together with just our family and talked about all the many things we have to be thankful for!! I am so Thankful for such a great weekend with Trevor and the kids!!!

Counting Down!!

2008-12-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

I found this idea from a blog I love to follow and decided to add it to our Christmas traditions. I bought 25 Christmas bags from hobby lobby and put a fun activity or small treat in each bag. Then I numbered each bag from 25-1,tied them shut with a ribbon and hung the bags on the railing. Each day until Christmas we open one bag as a family(counting down from #25) and do the activity that is inside. Some of the ideas that are inside are: making cookies for Santa, reading the Christmas story out of the bible, going to see the Christmas lights,making a Christmas package for Trevor's missionary brother, and some just have a treat inside. The kids are so excited every night to open a bag and see what is in each bag!!

2008-11-27T06:32:00.001-08:00

Free Glitter Graphics, Thanksgiving Glitter Graphics

LUCKY 7's TAG!!!!!!!

2008-11-24T14:27:00.000-08:00

7 things I can't do...
1-keep my laundry caught up
2-give a talk or a lesson without sticking to my notes
3-make homemade rolls
4-jump on the trampoline without going to the bathroom first
5-read a book without getting totally obsessed with it
6-ignore my dirty house (unless I'm reading a good book!)
7-run long distances
(*I "can't" think of 7 things I can do!!)

7 things I can do...
1-do a toe touch as high as Rylee's
2-do math well
3-ski
4-remember dates and birth dates well
5-know what my blood sugar is without testing my blood
6-sew
7-ride big/scary rides at amusement parks
(*I "can" think of a lot of things I can't do!!!)

7 things I always eat...
1-chocolate covered cinnamon bears
2-diet coke
3-pizza
4-strawberries
5-milk duds
6-chicken (any kind)
7-cold cereal

7 things I always say...
1-"Oh my gosh!!"
2-"Are you serious??"/"Really??"
3-"Did you brush your teeth?"
4-"AWESOME!"
5-"How many AR points do you have?"
6-"DUDE!!"
7-"How was your day?"
(*Trevor wanted me to add "I'm too tired tonight"!!!!LOL!!)

7 people I tag...
1-Jeni P.
2-Kim R.
3-Ginger G.
4-Angela B.
5-Debbie A.
6-Stacy B.
7-Rylee

Savior of the World!!

2008-11-21T20:47:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night, my neighbor Stephanie and I took our oldest kids(her oldest three and my oldest two) to the "Savior of the World" production at the Conference center in SLC. It was so good!! I was so excited to go, but anticipated another normal nativity type Christmas story about the birth of Jesus. It was nothing like I expected. It was so spiritual and I learned so much from it!! What a great way to kick off the true reason we celebrate this wonderful season!!

Falling, Falling,Falling...!!!

2008-11-18T11:59:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not talking about the leaves, I'm talking about the gasoline prices!!! I filled my gas-guzzling SUV up today and paid half the price that I did for gas about 2-3 months ago!!!! OMG!!!! What a great feeling in not so great times!! I'll take it!! I think I'll take my $40.00 savings and spend it, not at Sam's or Walmart, but at some small little business that's struggling to make it in these scary times!! Or put it towards a sub-for-santa family that is really struggling in these rough times!! Anyway I'm so happy to see a relief at the pumps!!! Can they get any lower?? Yipee!!!

Merry Christmas...from Trans-Siberian Orchestra!!

2008-11-14T06:22:00.000-08:00

Last night Trevor and I took River and Ryker to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert at the e-center. It was so amazing, what a great night we had. We weren't sure if they would do their regular Christmas songs, being so early in the season, but they did!!! It was so much fun. Ryker was so cute he would clap and cheer and really got in to it!! He was such a great concert goer, I couldn't believe it. We weren't sure how he would like it, but I'm so glad we took him because I had someone who would clap and cheer and be a dork with me!!!(Trevor and River are a little too cool to really get crazy!) We had a great time. So, Merry Christmas, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy New Year, and any other holiday you'd like to celebrate at this time...from TSO!!!

History in the making!!!

2008-11-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

"I'm asking you to believe, not just in my ability to bring about real change... I'm asking you to believe in yours." Barrack Obama

Well, I have been way crazy this past week, and I think any spare second I had I spent trying to figure out facebook!! But, I really wanted to blog about the recent events that took place in our wonderful country!! I think I mostly wanted to blog about this for my own memory of how I felt at this time, but I would also like to hear how my fellow bloggers feel about the recent events!!

After many months, even years of campaigning,speeches, arguments, rallies,polls and debates, Barrack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States of America!! John McCain ended up with 162 Electoral votes and Barrack Obama with 364 Electoral votes. Obama had over 65.9 million votes, the largest total for any candidate in history. I feel very much at peace with the way the election went. I have to admit that I've never been much into politics, as a matter of fact I had a political science class in college and loved it, but had such a hard time understanding it!! But I feel that I have grown so much this past year and have learned so much and learned to appreciate politics more than ever. I truly hope I never lose the understanding that I have gained this past year. I feel more politically educated than ever. It has been so much fun following this Presidential election. From Hilary R. Clinton, to Mitt Romney, to Barrack Obama and Sarah Palin!!! Oh my goodness, what a ride it has been!!! I have loved that my kids were finally old enough to have an opinion about the whole election. I hope they will remember this week and what they have learned from this whole experience. My two oldest both wanted a different candidate and it was so fun to hear their views and opinions of why they felt the way they did!!! What a great learning experience for them. I am grateful to live in a country where I have the right to vote for any candidate, no matter what political party he is from. So whether you voted for Obama or McCain, I think everyone in the United States should feel so proud to be an American right now. I am excited and very hopeful that Barrack Obama will do a great job and that our great country will begin to rebuild itself into the prosperous country that it is!!!
(And if Obama doesn't do a very good job, Hilary Clinton will be waiting for 2012. Who knows maybe it will be H. Clinton and S. Palin in 2012, now that would be a cat fight to watch!!! LOL!!)

BOYS WILL BE BOYS!!!

2008-11-01T08:18:00.001-07:00

I have to admit, sometimes I feel very inadequate about being the mother of three very active boys. The other day was definitely one those days!! I have three metal lanterns that adorn the center of my patio set outside. The other day there were only two, one of the three was missing. Hmmmmmm????
Apparently Ridger and his two best buddies from the neighborhood were doing some adventure hunting in the field by our house when they found themselves a new pet! Now, I've had a lot of new creatures brought home to house for a few days until we either starve them or just kill them from not being in there normal environment. We've had worms,caterpillars,spiders, snakes, grasshoppers, ants, even praying mantises'. But Ridgers newest pet was a "dead mouse"!!! He had gotten one of my metal lanterns and made a very nice home for his pet to reside in! He had gathered many leaves and made a very comfortable looking bed for the new pet. He even gathered some food for the pet to eat when it awoke from the very sound nap it was taking. Oh, Ridger thought he had found the jackpot of all jackpots of pets!! The lantern the new pet was residing in was the perfect little home. It had a small door for easy access of feeding and playing with the pet. It also had a nifty little handle on top for carrying the pet from place to place. And the best part of the dead rodents home, was the glass surrounding, for perfect viewing of the new pet! And Ridger was so proud of his sleeping pet, he took it out to all the neighborhood and showed him off!! Now, I've did a lot of analyzing to figure out what in the world would entice him to touch, let a lone pick up and house a dead mouse. I've came up with three reasons of why he would do this:
#1 He is the youngest of four children and maybe he is desperately seeking some needed attention, maybe he is in need of companionship so bad he will take a dead mouse as his new pet! (We do have a dog and a cat, but they are officially River and Rylee's)
#2 Maybe he is just extra sensitive and has some very strong motherly/fatherly instincts and just couldn't bear seeing the sweet little creature all alone in the big field.
#3 Or maybe it is just a typical case of boys being boys!!
Or maybe a little of "all of the above"!! So, if you receive a Christmas card from our family this holiday season, with a picture of our family, the dog, the cat and a sweet little dead mouse please know that Ridger just really needed a new pet!! (please pray for me!!!LOL)

2008-10-31T13:37:00.000-07:00

MyHotComments

A Ziggur-what?!!

2008-10-30T08:10:00.000-07:00

Trevor and I seem to have some unspoken laws in our home. Some HE-does, SHE-does rules, that were never really talked about , but somehow have just become the norm. There are certain jobs around the house that are just "his" jobs, and some are just mine. We just know this but have never really officiall delegated this out, just happened over the years. Well, one of my jobs seems to be the kids homework. I always help them, he just finds something else to do when its home work time. But this quarter River has brought home some special projects that for some reason have really sparked an interest from Trevor. The first was an egg container that was meant to keep Rivers egg that was launched off the top of the rec center roof, from breaking. The next was an egg "home", for a special egg River had to keep with him at all times one week. This weeks project was a model Ziggurat, an Egyptian pyramid looking thing! River had decided he wanted to build his model out of chocolate bars. So I took him to the store and we purchased every size of Hershey's chocolate bars we could find. When we got home we proceeded to build the "Ziggurat". Trevor came in and saw what we were doing and his wheels started to turn. The next thing I knew my kitchen had turned into a work shop, with all sorts of tools and materials to build the model "Ziggurat". So this week the two of them have had a great time eating chocolate bars and building the "Hershey's chocolate Ziggurat". They had a great time and the project turned out great!! Good job guys!! (looks like Trevor might be getting the homework duties more often!!)

1st grade fire station field trip!!

2008-10-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

Last week I was lucky enough to get to go with Ryker and the 1st graders on their field trip to the fire station!! It was so much fun, I'm so glad I went!! We walked across the street to the fire station, where the kids got a tour of the fire station and some fire safety tips. Roney was their "tour guide" and he did a great job with the kids, I was very impressed!! They even let the kids climb into the fire trucks and each child got to put all of the "fire man" equipment on. It was so cute!! After the fire station tour they went on a nature walk. Their teacher had a bag each child had colored and on the bag was a list of nature items they needed to find on our walk back to the school. It was a great little field trip and I know the kids learned a lot and had a great time!!

Tag #2

2008-10-24T12:50:00.000-07:00

I was also tagged from Jeni and Tiffany. This one was harder for me but here it goes:

8 favorite restaurants:
1-PF Changs
2-Macaroni Grill
3-Mimi's
4-Olive Garden
5-Taggarts Grill
6-Bajios
7-Sizzler (kind of a family thing)
8-Warrens

8 favorite t.v. shows
1-Lost
2-So You Think You Can Dance
3-American Idol
4-Extreme Home Makeover
5-Oprah
6-Seinfeld(thank goodness for old re-runs, their awesome!!)
7-Friends(another oldie, but a favorite still)
8-Good Things Utah
(honestly, I very rarely see a whole show of anything, but these are some of the ones I try to catch)

8 things I did yesterday:
1-Got the kids ready for school, took Rylee to the bus stop, took Ridger to preschool
2-Vacuumed my house
3-shopped at Target and Sam's club
4-helped in Rykers class
5-played "Sorry" with Ridger
6-took Ryker to a birthday party(wrong location I must add)
7-helped Ryker with his reading and homework
8-had a candle and jewelry party at my house

8 things I'm looking forward to
1-NO Road construction on 475 E. (and Riverdale Road!)
2-"Thriller" to be over(its been great, but time to be done!!)
3-Christmas/Holiday season
4-New York trip at Christmas time
5-Ryker being able to read "well"
6-Twilight the movie
7-a long family vacation(nothing planned yet, but were do!)
8-SUMMER!! (no school, lots of sun!!)

8 wishes:
1-that my kids wouldn't fight
2-NO Laundry for at least a week(or a month,or a year, or never again!!)
3-a little girl/ another daughter
4-economy to be strong again
5-that Ryker would wear his glasses
6-lose weight/ time to workout more
7-that I could find a way to slow life down or just pause it for a minute and ENJOY!!
8-that my kids will always be happy and not have to deal with very many hardships in their life's!!

8 people I tag: Rylee, Stacy B., Jennifer M., AngelaB., Kim R., Ginger G., Angie P.,Shawna K.

Tag!! I guess I'm it!

2008-10-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

Life has been ultra crazy the last little while, so I'm just catching up!! I guess I've been tagged a couple times! This one should be easy because I have lots of weird things about me. The hard part is narrowing it down to only 7! But here goes:

1-I'm extremely claustrophobic!! Really!! I can't have anything over my face at all. When we go snowmobiling I can't wear the face gear that goes on the helmets. Even the helmet drives me nuts sometimes. Once we went scuba diving in St. Thomas, I couldn't do it because of all the face gear that you have to wear. (I didn't realize it was going to be a problem for me until we paid and were in the water with the instructor!! Trevor was not very happy with me (: ) I also hate small confined spaces and have to be able to breath fresh air or I literally go CRAZY!!
2- I hate to sleep in socks!!! That drives me nuts!! Sometimes I will be cold before I go to bed and attempt to sleep with socks on. But it never fails, I end up ripping them off and throwing them in the middle of the night. I can't sleep with any kind of pants on my legs either. Too confining!! Maybe this has something to do with the claustrophobia??
3- I have nightmares all the time!! I can't watch or talk about anything disturbing right before bed or I have a nightmare about it. I am also a crazy sleeper. I cry, talk, yell, even sleepwalk in my sleep. I'm not a fun person to have over for a sleepover!!
4- I can't sleep in a moving car. I don't know if I'm worried the cars going to crash or feel I owe it to the person driving, but I feel like I have to stay awake if we're traveling far. Trevor is the total opposite. He can be in a car for ten minutes and he can't stay awake. So guess who ends up driving on our road trips while everybody else sleeps? I'm a good friend to go on a road trip with, just make me sleep in a different hotel room once we get there!!
5- OK This one isn't a surprise to very many people, but I'm a vacuum freak. BAD!! Ask my neighbor John Auger. (Have you seen my picture on his wall in his house? LOL) When Trevor and I were first married, we lived in a tiny basement apartment. When we moved out the lady upstairs (who we shared the central vacuum system with) said to me, "I have never seen any body vacuum so much in my life!!" And I think I've even got worse!! I vacuum almost everyday!! And I love to keep the lines, so you can tell its been vacuumed. It's weird how good it makes me feel to have my whole house vacuumed!!
6- I can't drive a car over a bridge with water under it. It scares me to death!! I honestly have to go so slow and just keep my eyes straight and think "mind over matter". I'm not afraid of heights, its just the car in the water thing that scares me. I could walk over the bridge, no problem, just not in a car!! (Maybe this also has something to do with the claustrophobia thing, I'm afraid of getting stuck in the car in the water and not being able to breath!!)
7- I can't shop with anyone. Not for groceries, clothes, furniture, anything!! I have a really hard time focusing on what I'm doing if I'm with anyone. I end up going home with wrong sizes, missing groceries, or just weird things I don't like. I like to do lunch before or after shopping with people, but I need to be by myself to do the shopping. This is definitely a problem if I have the kids with me. I also need to have a list, I can't shop without a list, I even make a list when I go clothes shopping or I end up with the wrong sizes for the kids or I forget what it is they need!! Maybe this has more to do with my focusing/concentration skills than it does with anything else. HMMMM.

Well, that's seven of the million weird/quirky things about me!! Thanks Stacy for making me think of how strange I really am!! Now I'm on to the next tag. The next one might be a little harder for me!!!
And I tag, Rylee, Stephanie M.,Carrie G., Becky A., Debbie A., John A.(HEE HEE), and Jenny L.

U.E.A.-F.U.N.

2008-10-21T20:03:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that the UEA weekend has come and gone already. I had been anticipating the extra long weekend almost since the first week of school. And it not only is gone, it's long gone!! But we had so much fun all weekend!

Thursday the boys went four-wheeling with Trevor. They had a lot of fun, but the main two words I heard describing their day were "cold" and "muddy". And after seeing all their clothes they wore, it must have been muddy!!

Friday I took Ridger and Ryker to Frightmares. (Rylee and River went with their "band" to the movie and spent the money they had earned at South Weber Days.) We had so much fun at Frightmares! It was a beautiful day!! It was so crowded though. The boys had a great time riding the rides!!

Saturday we went to Weber States football game in the afternoon. They played Northern Colorado and won. It was a great game. That night we went to our neighbor's house and made homemade pizza's. The kids had so much fun choosing the toppings they wanted and "building" their pizzas. After we ate we did some singing in their band room. Then we watched Indiana Jones on the ceiling in their sports court. It was so much fun. Ryker and I were the only ones from our family that didn't fall asleep. What a fun night!

Sunday we went to my brother and sister in laws house for my niece's' birthdays. We decorated cupcakes and cookies. The kids had a lot of fun decorating their treats, and even more fun eating them!! Thanks Rod and Jodi!!

And now I'm back to counting down the days to the next long weekend!! Only 9 days left!! Yippee!!

What a "Thriller"!

2008-10-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

After weeks of driving to Orem for practices, Odyssey Dance Theatre's "Thriller" finally opened. The show was in Ogden the weekend of October 9, 10 and 11, at the Val A. Browning Center. It started at Kingsbury Hall on October 15 and will continue until November 1. Rylee auditioned for a part in the show in September and has had to practice in Orem every weekend since. She has performed with Odyssey Dance Theatre in Thriller in the past and some of their other shows also. Trevor and I went and saw the Friday night performance in Ogden. It was so good. Then some of Rylee's friends and their moms and I went and saw it on Thursday at Kingsbury Hall. We went and ate dinner at "The Pie" before the show started, then we walked over to Kingsbury Hall and enjoyed the show. Both performances I saw were wonderful! Rylee enjoys doing the performances so much. She has met some neat people doing this and just really has so much fun!! Thriller is one of my favorite shows Odyssey does and it is just a fun thing to go do for Halloween!! My favorite dances are the Jason Jam, Frankenstein and the River of Blood Dance!!

Welcome Winter...NOT!!!

2008-10-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

I usually love the change of a new season. I love that here in Utah we get to enjoy every season , to it's extreme. From so many beautiful flowers and trees in the spring; the hot, hot, hot dry summers; the beautiful fall colors; and even the beautiful, fun snow in the winter. But one thing I really dislike, is when we get jipped out of a season and have to quickly move to the next!! Well, I thought for about 36 hours this past weekend that we might be getting jipped.

I woke up Sunday morning to the most excited 7 year old ever. "Mom, you won't believe how much it snowed," he said. "Can we go play in it!". I'm thinking a skiff, sure, go play, it will be gone in an hour. Oh my!! I was so shocked when I got up and saw about 5-6 inches of snow all over! So my 4 boys, the oldest 40 year old included, went out before church and sled and had a great time in the snow!! I usually don't encourage playing before church, do to issues of not coming back in and being late for church, but I figured it would surely be gone by the time we got home from church that evening. Oh no, it not only wasn't gone, it had about another inch or two on top of it!! So, again the winter attire was layered on and out they all went for more winter fun!! I will admit for about an hour or two even I enjoyed it. I even had to really hold myself back from playing my Christmas music. But when I woke up Monday morning at five o'clock to get Rylee to cheer practice, and saw all that snow, still there and cold as ever, I was very annoyed and could feel the winter depression starting to come on!! I really am not ready for Autumn to be over yet!! I was really enjoying the warm beautiful fall days, but the crisp cool nights!! The leaves on my trees haven't even started to change colors yet! I will be very happy to have winter here in a month or two, but PLEASE , PLEASE, PLEASE Autumn come back!!!

Changes...Enjoy The Journey!!

2008-10-05T19:13:00.001-07:00

This weekend was the semi-annual General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I had a couple of talks that really touched me, but I think my favorite was the one in the Sunday morning session by President Thomas S. Monson. His talk was titled "Changes". He talked about how change is all around us, sometimes it's good change; sometimes not good change. But life is always going to change. He really specified about families/parents with small children. And that soon they will no longer be small. The fingerprints, the toys, the messes will all be gone tomorrow. He talked about how no matter what we do today, tomorrow will happen. What kind of memories do we want for tomorrow? What are we spending our today doing? What will our children remember about today? He said we need to enjoy the journey of life and not take anything for granted- no regrets.
He related a story of a war veteran (I don't remember what war) who had been a prisoner of war for two years. After two years of being held captive, he was finally allowed to write a letter home to his family. But he could only use 25 words or less. What would you say if you only had 25 words to express yourself to your family, after two years of not seeing them? We need to tell those around us how much we appreciate them and love them more. Sometimes in life it's so easy to go about the rush of life that it's hard to remember to enjoy the blessings we have!! Life is going to change-every second, every minute, every hour, every day. We need to enjoy the Journey!!

Let's See Those Teeth...Ryker!!!

2008-09-25T12:11:00.001-07:00

Last month Ryker celebrated his birthday. His birthday was on a Tuesday and he was having a party on Thursday. A few days before his birthday he was asking me how many more days until his birthday and his party. When I told him how many days were left for both he asked what was on Wednesday, between his birthday and his party. The kids all had dentist appointments for check-ups and cleanings on Wednesday. So I explained this to him, trying to make it sound fun, anticipating he might be sad he had to ruin his great week with a dentist appointment. But after I told him the weeks events, he said with a big smile, "Oh, that will be perfect, then my teeth will look good for my party!!" And wow, they did Ryker!!

Well, about a week after the big cleaning, for the big party, Ryker and River were playing around, "play fighting and wrestling". River accidentally hit Ryker in the mouth. His front tooth that had been loose for a few weeks fell out!! It bled quite a bit for how loose it had all ready been. But after only a few tears, Ryker was laughing about the whole thing.

Then two days after River hit the first tooth out, Ridger and Ryker were fighting(for real this time). Ridger got mad and punched Ryker in the mouth and Ryker's other front tooth fell out!! This time there wasn't any blood or tears, just lots of laughs!!

So You Think You Can Dance!!!!!

2008-09-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

Last night Rylee and I went to see the "So You Think You Can Dance" concert at the E-center!! It was amazing!! I had originally bought some tickets that were on the front row in the bottom bowl section. They were great seats, but then we got an offer to sit in a suite with some girls and parents that Rylee takes dance with. So we sold our tickets in the front row and bought the tickets in the suite. I was a little worried that we had made a bad decision, and that we wouldn't be able to see as well from the suite. But the suite ended up being right above our other tickets we sold, and they had a great view. We had the best time! The suite was stocked with all you could eat popcorn and an ice cream bar with tons of great toppings. Everyone we sat with in the suite were so much fun. As for the show itself! WOW!! It was so much fun! I loved getting to know all the dancers on a little more personal level when they would come out and talk and announce the next performance. They all are wonderful dancers and really seemed to have darling personalities as well. Some of my highlights of the night were definitely Chelsie and Marks "Bleeding Love", the audience went the most crazy for this one. Not only because Chelsie is from Utah, but this dance was amazing. I also loved Katie and Twitch in "Begging you for Mercy"(another huge crowd pleaser), Katie and Josh's "BaliWood", Katie and Josh's "No Air", and Katie and Josh's "All by myself",(this one also made the crowd go crazy) Anything by Katie and Josh is AMAZING! Also all of the group dances were so good!! We had such a fun time!! YAHOO for SYTYCD season 4, can't wait until next season!!!

A Day Out On FrontRunner

2008-09-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

My neighbor, Michelle, and I took Ridger and her son Tanner on the FrontRunner yesterday. Both our boys love trains so we thought we would make a fun day of it. We loaded the train in Farmington, it was a little cheaper and didn't take quite so long. Luckily, Michelle knew right where to park, pay and load. We rode the train to the Salt Lake terminal, where we rode Trax to the Gateway. Then we took the boys to Discovery Gateway. None of us had ever been to Discovery Gateway before. It was so neat. They had so many fun things to do there. Ridger's favorites were the big red truck, that you could put pretend gasoline in, and pretend air in the tires. He also loved the water area, that had a waterfall that you could put balls in and watch float from the top down and other fun things to play with in the water. He also loved the Construction Zone with a big play crane and play rocks and also the block building area that had a pretend earthquake that would break your block creations down. Tanner seemed to really enjoy the pretend store that had real cash registers and tons of pretend food. He also liked the water area and the construction zone. I was intrigued by the ball area where you could put bright colored balls into a clear tube and watch it be sucked back over to the ball pit. I also loved the pretend garden where you pick play-vegetables out of the cute garden, and also the area with real working cameras where you could pretend you were a newscaster from KSL. It was all so adorable and I can't wait to go again. After we left the Discovery Gateway we went to the food court at the Gateway and got lunch. Then we headed back to Trax, which took us back to the FrontRunner terminal and headed home. It was such a neat day and the boys had a lot of fun. We only had two minor mishaps. The first one was when we were trying to get off of Trax at the Gateway, the doors wouldn't open. We pushed the "door open" button many times, on two different doors, and they wouldn't open so we had to get off the next stop. The next mishap was when we were getting on the FrontRunner to go home, and I was standing in the doorway and Ridger was outside the train and the doors started to shut. I grabbed Ridger to pull him in the train and the doors smashed right on him. Michelle and I were both trying to pry the doors open, but they wouldn't open until we pushed the "door open" button. It was crazy that the doors don't have a sensor, like elevator doors, so when someone is in the way it won't shut on them. But he only cried for a second, I think it just scared him more than anything. As soon as the train started moving he forgot all about it. It was so much fun and I can't wait to take my other kids to Discovery Gateway, I think I might even attempt the FrontRunner again another time!!

Hooray for Friday!!

2008-09-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

I do love Fridays!! I've always loved the saying "What a difference a day can make!" I'm always amazed at how awful one day can be, and then the next day be so wonderful!
This week has definitely been one of those weeks!! Ryker has not wanted to go to school all week. He wakes up every morning crying and says he "hates" school and is not going!! It has really taken it's toll on me all week. It has been so frustrating!! And when he makes his mind up about something, he is not easily persuaded. Nothing could make him change his mind on going to school this week!! I think he missed more school this week that he went to. Then just like magic, he wakes up this morning smiling and got ready, ate, and ran out to the bus like it was the best thing in the whole world!!! I'll take it!!
Sweet Rylee pulled the ligaments in her foot last weekend tumbling and has been in a boot all week. If you know Rylee, you know what a damper this has put on her schedule. She dances, cheers, and tumbles the majority of her day! When we took her to the Doctor last weekend, the doctor told her she would only be out a week, and would be back to her regular schedule after one week. But the swelling and the bruising has not seemed to get much better, until today!! She actually attempted school without her boot(her shoe verily fit with the wrap and still a little swelling). She is determined to not let this slow her down!!
River and Ryker both started flag football this week. River at first thought that he was so picked on because he was the "only" kid in the whole country that's parent's wont let him play tackle football. But he is actually having lots of fun playing and his team actually won a game!!
Ridger's week was all positive!! He celebrated his birthday and got lots of fun gifts and hasn't stopped playing with them all week. He runs from one toy to the next and has been having a blast!! He was actually excited to go to pre-school this week(a huge rarity).
From praying for a friend who recently had major-surgery, to running to after-hours for what thought was a broken foot, to celebrating Birthdays, to lots of flag-football games and practices, to saying goodbye to a great missionary for two years, to comforting a very sad and scared 1st grader, to running to dance, cheer, and Jr. High volleyball games......I am so glad it is Friday!!! I am so glad I started blogging!! (: (: (:

Finally....Elder Schenck

2008-09-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

Today Trevors cute little brother, Taylor, finally entered the MTC for his mission. He is going to the Riverside California, Spanish speaking mission. This is quite momentus because he turned 19 in May and had originally received his call to leave in June. But he was playing church ball last spring and broke his foot. Apparently the church is very strict about the missionaries being in perfect health before they enter the MTC now. So poor Taylor had to wait until his foot was totally healed and the doctor would send in release forms. The crazy part was that he would have been in the MTC for two months because it is Spanish speaking and he would get his cast off before he would have left the MTC. So after many months of waiting he is finally Elder Schenck! He is an awesome kid and we are going to miss him a lot , but we are so proud of him and happy for him. He will be a great missionary!!

Happy Birthday Ridger!!

2008-09-16T16:13:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been five years!! Five years ago today our last baby was born!! To celebrate his big day, first he went to preschool and got a present and birthday crown from his teacher and took a treat to share with his class. Then he had some of his friends over for a party. We went to McDonalds for lunch, then we came back to the house and had cake and ice cream, watched Speed Racer in the theatre room and broke a pinata. It was lots of fun!! After the other kids came home from school we unwrapped presents as a family and celebrated even more!! I decorated the house with balloons and crepe paper. He was so excited and kept giving me big hugs and saying thank you so much for this fun birthday mom!! He's such a great kid and we are so blessed to have him in our family. I love you Ridger! Happy Birthday!

I did it!!!!

2008-09-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

After many months of talking about making a family blog, I finally did it!!! After Carrie showed me how to make a blog for our dinner group, I've loved looking at other peoples and wanted to make my family one. So I finally took the time to figure it out and I did it!!! I can already tell I'm not going to be very good at it, I'm not the most computer savvy, but I am going to try!